Anthony W. Case
American astrophysicist / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anthony W. Case (born 1980) is an American astrophysicist who has designed instruments to study the solar wind and cosmic rays on unmanned spacecraft. A native of Oregon, he earned his undergraduate degree in physics from the University of Oregon and a doctorate in astronomy at Boston University.[1] His research has focused on the measurement of atomic particles in space, and the instruments used for that purpose, particularly Faraday cups.
Anthony W. Case | |
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Born | 1980 (age 43–44) |
Education | B.S., University of Oregon Ph.D., Boston University |
Known for | Design of Solar Probe Cup on Parker Solar Probe |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Astrophysics |
Institutions | Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, BWX Technologies |
Thesis | Variations in the Galactic Cosmic Ray Flux at the Moon (2010) |
Doctoral advisor | Dr. Harlan Spence |
Website | hea-www |
After college, Case worked at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics for 13 years, where he has helped develop Faraday cups for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Parker Solar Probe (PSP), and the planned HelioSwarm, earning several awards from NASA. The Solar Probe Cup he helped build for the Parker Probe's SWEAP instruments was particularly challenging as it had to be able to resist extremely high temperatures since the probe has flown far closer to the Sun than any previous spacecraft, and the cup had to be constantly exposed to the sun in order to do its job. Data it collected has helped resolve the coronal heating problem that has puzzled astrophysicists for almost a century. Case is now employed in the private sector by BWX Technologies of Virginia.[2]
While a junior at Thurston High School in Springfield, Case was injured severely in a 1998 school shooting where two students were killed. One of the four gunshot wounds he suffered cut off the flow of blood to one of his feet temporarily, causing nerve damage. It took him a year to recover and ended his hopes of playing baseball in college. As a result, he pursued science instead.[1]